Do You Have a Special Grandma?

Are you blessed enough to still have a special grandma in your life? My sweet grandmothers passed away when  I was a child. I so wish I could have known them as an adult. I would have loved to cherish the stories of old. One of my grandmothers immigrated from Hungary when she was a child. She had a wonderful Hungarian accent and was the Cookie Grandma! She was under 5 feet tall but a strong, determined woman who raised her 10 children on a dry wheat ranch on her own after her husband was killed by lightening. My other grandmother was a beautiful lady who battled the effects of uncontrolled diabetes most of her adult life. She lived with us for a time while my mother cared for her. She had eyes that twinkled and a smile that was contagious. I loved to eat coddled eggs with her. Have you ever eaten those - YUM!  In honor of those special grandmothers still with us and those held dear in our memories:

Look how this sweet customer honored her special grandmother:

You Held My Tiny Hands for a Short While But My Heart Forever

Sisters - Friends Who Listen with Their Hearts

Have you been blessed with a sister? I truly have been blessed - blessed with three sisters. They were the first three born of our family of 7, I was the last. They were mostly out of the house by the time I was old enough to remember. However, I have found as an adult that each one is quite the special soul and the years between don't seem to matter. What matters is that they do listen with their hearts. They love with a love that only sisters could understand. I don't know if they ever read this blog, but if they do, I love you! Here's to all the sisters out there!

Harvest Blessings - Getting Personal

Blessing....a gift bestowed by God.   Have you ever noticed that some of the trials in our lives, those that are so hard at the time, so difficult to understand, become a beautiful blessing in the end?  I was told once, that we see only one large looming, mountain in front of us, but God sees from a different perspective.  He sees the entire mountain range, the valleys....and the peaks.....the entire story of the journey we are on.  He sees what we must go through to get where we need to go....to become the mature soul that He has created us to be.

I hang on to the fact, that HE sees us.  He knows where we are in our journey.  I have come to the place in my journey where I realize I won't know the answers to some hard questions...why we lose certain loved ones too soon, why children get sick... I have to trust that He sees me, and knows the journey that I am on, and what I must go through to become the blessing He wants me to be.

Although I won't know the answer at this point to some of those hard questions, God has chosen to let me see glimpses of His plan for me, enough to reassure me that nothing happens by coincidence.  He has also turned some of the biggest heartaches in my life into the biggest, unexpected blessing.  I have shared a little of the story of my daughter before, a true blessing in disguise in my life, who has changed me more deeply than I can express.

When I see the word blessing, it touches places in my soul that I would have never understood before.  It means the small hand in mine, the chance for another day, the laughter and life I hear in my children around me, the steady breathing of my husband as he sleeps beside me at night.  Yes, some of these seem insignificant at first glance, but when we stop and think about it, life is such a fragile breath.    These seemingly insignificant moments, each one of them, are HUGE gifts from our Creator.  I guess many of us never realize that  until they are not there anymore.....I don't want that to be me.  I don't want to be lulled to sleep, taking these amazing blessings for granted. 

So, I'm shaking myself awake again, to feel the height, breadth and depth of those blessings that have been placed in my life.  And maybe....just maybe.....a reminder has been given to someone out there to wake from slumber, to see those amazing everyday blessings in their life.

Sending hugs and blessings your way =)





























Get Your Craft On

Mom-You Taught By Example, I learned By Love

Being a mom, and then a homeschool mom on top of that, has truly been the greatest learning experience in my life.  It has stretched me and shown me how much I need to grow - the areas in my heart that need to be refined, mended and reshaped.   It has been the hardest and most rewarding thing I've ever done.  I am blessed to have three short people, soon to be tall, that call me momma.  =0)

Being a mom has taught me so much about my own mom and given me a much deeper understanding and appreciation for her role in my life.   Yes, there were times when I was younger that I was critical of her.....now that I am a mom, I just think, oh my goodness, she had to be a saint!!!  LOL!  There were seven of us kiddos living on a 25 acre ranch.  My dad worked out of town so my mom was in charge of the "funny farm".  My mom did everything from stitch up kids to deliver cows and sheep!  She taught us how to break horses, train dogs, tool leather, garden, can, milk cows (and goats).......the list goes on. 

One of the things I love most about both my parents was their encouragement to us to be whatever we wanted to be.  The girls in the family were told they had the ability to do whatever the boys did - and we did do it!!!  My mom went back to college when I, the youngest, was 5, and became a nurse.  Can you imagine 7 kids, a farm, a husband away from home and being in college?  NOPE, not me!!!  She has always been an example to me to step out and try something new.  She taught herself how to tool leather, paint, sew - I mean really sew - she has a taylor's license..... the list goes on.  So as I approach new challenges in my life, I turn to the example of my mom.  A woman who took the seeds and weeds in her life and made them into a beautiful garden.  I love you mom!

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